2023-09-12 03:03:02
Hobbies linked to lower levels of depression among older people
Engagement in hobbies and mental well-being among people aged 65 and older in 16 countries
Summary
The increasing aging population represents a threat to global health due to the social and psychological challenges they experience. To mitigate this, many countries promote participation in hobbies to support and improve mental health. However, it is still unclear whether there is consistency in benefits across different national settings. We harmonize measures of hobby participation and multiple aspects of mental well-being in 16 countries represented in five longitudinal studies (N = 93,263). The prevalence of hobby participation varied substantially between countries, from 51.0% of Spanish respondents to 96.0% of Danish respondents. Fixed-effects models and multinational meta-analyses were applied to compare longitudinal associations between hobbies and mental well-being.
Regardless of confounders, having a hobby was associated with fewer depressive symptoms (pooled coefficient = −0.10; 95% confidence intervals (CI) = −0.13, −0.07) and higher levels of self-reported health (pooled coefficient = 0.06; 95% CI = 0.03, 0.08), happiness (pooled coefficient = 0.09; 95% CI = 0.06, 0.13), and life satisfaction ( combined coefficient = 0.10; 95% CI = 0.08, 0.12).
Additional analyzes suggested a temporal relationship. The strength of these associations and the prevalence of hobby participation were correlated with macro-level factors such as life expectancy and national levels of happiness, but overall, national-level factors explained little variation in the findings (< 9%). Given the relative universality of the findings, ensuring equality in hobby participation within and between countries should be a priority to promote healthy aging.
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Having a hobby is linked to fewer depressive symptoms and higher levels of happiness, self-reported health, and life satisfaction among people age 65 and older, and this is true in 16 countries on three continents, according to a study led by researchers at the UCL.
Having a hobby is linked to fewer depressive symptoms and higher levels of happiness, self-reported health, and life satisfaction among people age 65 and older, and this holds true in 16 countries on three continents, according to a new study led by researchers at the UCL (University College London).
The study, published in the journal Nature Medicineaimed to see if the benefits of hobbies were consistent across different national settings and analyzed data from 93,263 people aged 65 or older who had enrolled in five existing longitudinal studies in England, Japan, and the United States. United States, China and 12 European countries.
When analyzing data from participants ranging from four to eight yearsthe researchers found that having a hobby was also related to subsequent decreases in depressive symptoms and increases in happiness and life satisfaction, suggesting there might be a causal effect, although as an observational study it might not demonstrate causality.
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